We wait for months for the trees to bear fruit. We dread a late frost, we quivver at the thought of hail, and we 'pray' that the pot of pestilence doesn't spill-over.
Then, when all has survived, and the trees are filled with fruit; we can't cope. We make jams, pies, and crumbles. We freeze, bottle, and dry. And we simply eat as much as we can.
But there's always waste; and I hate it. It really troubles me that I have planted all these trees and cannot do justice to their bounty.
The problem, in the country, is that everyone has a glut, and no-one needs hand-outs. I've told some of the local children to help themselves to peaches (middle picture), but otherwise.....
There is an Amish saying 'better to burst your stomach, than to waste food'. They're right, but I can do nothing about it.
After a lifetime of relying on shop bought fruit and veg I find it difficult to see so much produce going to waste and I am desperate to put it to good use. Trouble is soft fruit like peaches, melons etc. all ripen at the same time, and you can’t give stuff to your neighbours because they all grow their own! There’s only so many Peach Bellinis a girl can drink.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's only TWO of us.
ReplyDeleteHello:
ReplyDeleteIt ever was thus. Impossible, somehow, to restrict whatever one grows in the way of food to be sufficient, and no more, for one's needs.
But, whatever the waste, to have homegrown produce is such a wonderful thing.
I'm so glad the Amish have a saying for what I've been doing to my stomach all these years...
ReplyDelete...I feel better now I have an Amish seal of approval.
Very envious of your peach tree Cro. I may have to nip over the Channel to do some scrumping!
Ooo, by the way, copy this link. Maybe an answer?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.machinemart.co.uk/pages/pressfruitpress
We were just looking at one of those last week. It was about €190, but probably worth every centime. I should have bought one yonks ago!
ReplyDeletebuy a pig
ReplyDeletenow I'm frightened to go out in the back field where the courgettes are taking over my world and I seem to be powerless to stop them...help!!!
ReplyDeleteThere's a movement spreading across the US Cro called The Gleaning Project. Volunteers go to registered spots to pick fruit (that would otherwise rot on the tree) to donate to food banks. Their 'payment' for the work, is to keep part of the fruit picked. Iit means some people, who otherwise might not get to, eat fresh fruit every day.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there is such a program in France...I don't know if France even has or needs foodbanks. But if they don't (have them) and do (need them), perhaps it might be something you could start?
Or maybe just take the fruit to a local hospital/hospice/school/daycare centre?
I too hate waste!
To see food wasted when we are made so aware of people who are dying for want of it is painful.
ReplyDeleteJacqueline. I think your last suggestion of taking fruit to a hospice etc would be the best. I'll make inquiries.
ReplyDeleteIt all looks like paradise to me...but I can imagine it must be very frustrating. Those pears are adorable!
ReplyDeleteGuilt over our own waste and awareness of those in want is the curse of being a just and caring man. Your fruit looks wonderful. I hope you find a good home for it.
ReplyDeleteOh my mouth is watering all of that lovely fresh fruit (we are in winter)my little peach tree will be a few years before we see anything I think and at the moment we are paying up to $15.00 Australian for a kg of Bananas and in season peaches are around $8 to $9.00 a kg
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the hospice, O.H&S (occupational Health & Safety) here, would knock that good deed on the head.
We have the same problem. Last year, for the first time, we put fruit by the roadside with a big sign saying 'help yourself'. Although I only ever saw one car stop, at the end of each day the fruit had always gone.
ReplyDeleteA local builder comes and picks apples for the old folks home.
This year the trees are so laden that some of the plum tree branches have broken. We are eating and preserving as much as we can!
Oh, your peaches!!
I like Jacqueline's comment. We give as much as we can of our surplus away. There's always going to be some waste but most of it goes on the compost heap to go around again.
ReplyDeleteWe have been lucky with our plum as both years we have been here they have ripened virtually to order. The grapefruit and apples tend to get eaten by the Australian Possums. I have trapped some but then there is also the Guava Bud Moth that also came over from Australia and burrows into both the lemons and the grapefruit. Just as well there is a good Growers Market.
ReplyDeleteJohn is right, pigs are wonderful for recycling food into delicious meat. I can't give my veges away when i have a glut because everyone grows their own here, but two pigs take care of any surplus fruit and veg.
ReplyDeleteCro, the jury has made its decision: you're going to have to get yourself some pigs.
ReplyDeleteI must admit, it's something I'd never considered.
ReplyDelete